Combined cooling and dehumdifxing



Aug. 15, 1944. s. TAYLOR 2,355,823

COMBINED COOLING AND DEHUMIDIFYING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 25, 1945 M ATTORNEY dehumidifying and cooling pendentlybontrolled even though a Patented Aug. 15, I944 asssszs,

.commueo coomra m nnnusnmrrmc srsrsu Robert s. Taylor, Evansville,

Ind; asslgnor to.

Servel, Inc.,-NewYork, 1., a corporation of Delaware Application February 25, 194:, sei-iiu' No. 411,024

6 Claims.

Myinvention'relates to coolin and dehumidifying. of gases.

After 'a dehum difying agent has been brought into contact with a gas, such as air, to effect removal of water vapor, the dehumidifying agent usually is, reactivated and again brought into contact with the gas to remove water vapor there The reactivating circuit forthe dehumidifrom. fying agent may include a'boiler in which the agent is heated to expel water vapor therefrom, and dehumidifying agent, deprived-of water vapor, is then brought into contact with the gas. Since the water vapor produced in the boiler, in reactivating the dehumidlfying agent, is in the formof steam and represents useful energy; I utilize such steam as the source of supply of heat for a heat operated refrigeration system, so that cooling of the dehumidified gas may also be effected.

- It is an. object of .the provide an improvement whereby water vapor that is removed from a gas by a dehumidlfying agent or absorbentand thereafter expelled in the form of steam in a boilerto reconcentrate the dehumldifying agent or absorbent, is utilized as a heating medium for a heat operated refrigeration system to effect cooling.

Another object of the invention a system for treating gases, such as air, in which of a gas may be indesingle source of heat is utilizedto eflect such dehumidifying and cooling.

The invention, together with the above an other ,objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood by reference to the following invention, therefore, to

solution inployed may be any one of a number of well known dehumidifylns agents, such asa solution of'calcium chloride, for example, capable of removing water vapor from the Eas'introduced into the lower part of flow therethrough. The dehumidifled gas passes from the upper part of absorber it over the suris to provide produc d mi boiler descriptlonand accompanyin drawing forming apartof thi specification, and of which the figure diagrammatically illustrates-a combined dehumidifying system and refrigeration system embodying the invention. 1 1

Referring to the drawing, the combined dehumidifying system and refrigeration system comprises an absorber It and a cooling element H connected and arranged in a, suitable conduit or duct l2 in"wh1ch' a gas to be dehumidlfled and cooled is circulated. The gas toxbe dehumidifled and cooled may flow first dehumidlfying chamber cooling element II, as indlcated'bythe arrows in theductll. N l f The gas introduced intov the lower part of absorber l2 comes through the absorberor Ill and then past the:

in'contact witha hygroscopic solution dischargedfrom' a spray head ll located V inthe upper partof absorber lt. The hygroscopic ll absorber to absorb suitable condenser faces of cooling element H, whereby the gas is cooled by heat transfer to the refrigerant flowing through the cooling element.

The absorber Ill forms a part of adehumidifying system in which the dehumidifying agent is withdrawn from absorber it through a conduit II, and reactivated or reconcentrated'dehumidifying agent is supplied through-a conduit It to spray head II.- -The reactivating circuit includes a boiler l'l into which dehur'nidi'fying agent flows fromthe bottom of absorber IO- through conduit IS, an outer passage of a'liquid heat exchanger is, and a conduit is. The sauern is adapted'to be heated in any suitable manner, as by a gas burner 20, to expel water vapor from the dehumidifying agent. A pump 2| connected by a conduit 22 to boiler l1 raises the reactivated dehumidifyin 'agent to the absorber luthrough an inner passage of liquid heat exchanger I. and conduit 18. A cooling jacket 23 is provided about conduit It for cooling reconcentrated dehumidiiying agent flowing from boiler II to absorber ill. A suitable cooling medium, may be circulated through the jacket 23.

In accordancewith my invention, the steam i'l in reactivating the dehumldifying agent is utilized as a source of supply of heat for a heat operated refrigeration system of whichthe cooling The refrigeration system may be of an absorption type like that described in United States letters Patent No. 2,282,503 of A. R. Thomas and ,P. P. Anderson, Jr., granted May 12, 1942. Such a refrigeration system comprises the cooling element a or evaporator H in which a refrigerant fluid, such .ducted from the absorber to a generator 24.-

' By heating the'gnerator '24 refrigerant is expelled from-the absorption liquid, condensed in a 25, and then returned to the ooling element :4! to-comple'te the refrigerating cy le. The absorption liquid deprived ot.refrigerant is conducted from generator to th refrigerant vapor. The ab absorber I! for upward" such as water,

element ii forms a part.

sorber and other parts of the rerrigerationsystem may be arranged within and supported upon a drawing,'the' absorber and other parts have not been shown, their illustration not being B60889 'sary for an understanding of my invention. It

vdesired,;; reference may be had to 't he' abovementioned patent of Thomas and Anderson fora detaileddescription of the refrigeration system, the disclosure of, which may be considered as being incorporated in this application.

The generator 24 may include a plurality of a shell or framework 28; In order to simplify the I dehumidifying air flowing in the as including, 'a circuit containin a liquid absorbent for absorbing watervapor, means to circulate the absorbent in said circuit, said circuit includlng'one vertical riser tubes in which the absorption liquid is heated. The riser tubes, which may also be referred to as generator or boiler tubes, are disposed within a chamber formed by the outer shell of generator 24. Steam is introduced into the lower part of generator 24 through a conduit 21 which is connected at its lower end to boiler II;

generator. through which excess steam is discharged from the generator into the atmosphere. The condensate formed in generator 24 drains.

th'erefrom through a conduit 29 into a vessel 3%? having an overflow conduit 3!. From vessel 39' condensate passes through a conduit '32 .into a float chamber 33 which is connected by a conduit 34 to the bottom part of boiler II. As long as the liquid remains at or above a predetermined level in boiler ii, a float-operated valve 35 at the lower endof conduit 32 is closed, so that liquid will not flow from vessel 80 to chamber 33. When the liquid level falls sufllcientiy iniboiler H and chamber 33, however, additional make-up water is'supplied to the boiler from vessel 30 due to opening of the float-obratedvalve 35. The overflow conduit 3| 'is'provided for vessel 39 to allow excess water removed from the dehumidifying agent to boiler ii to flow to waste. 1

part associated with said duct in which the absorbent absorbs water vapor from the air and a boiler in which water vapor is expelled from the absorbent in the form of steam, refrigeration apnaratus including 8.6001111; element arr sad to effect cooling of air in the duct, and a h at receiving part, said heat receiving part being connected to receive steam from said boiler.

- 2. In 'an air conditioning system including an absorber for dehumidifying air and a cooling element for cooling the air, the combination of a dehumidifying circuit containing an absorbent for water vapor, a pump for circulating the absorbent in the circuit, said circuit including said absorbent and a boiler, a source of heat forisaid boiler, a

refrigeration system including said cooling elementxand a heat receiving part, and a conduit connecting said boiler and said heat receiving part.

3. Apparatus for treating gases, such as air, including. an absorber for absorbing water vapor from a gas and a cooling element to effect cooling 'jof the gas, a boiler,- connectionsfor circulating which includes the steps of utilizing an absorbent for water-vapor to absorb water vapor from the It will now be understood that a combined heat operated refrigeration system and dehumidifying system has been provided in which thewater vapor removed or expelled in the form of-steam from the dehumidifying agent in reconcent'rating the latter is eifectively utilized to operate the refrigeration system, so that both cooling and de-' humidifylng can be eifected with a single heat source or a single boiler system. Moreover, the dehumidifying and cooling of air in duct I! may be independently controlled, even though only aslngle source of heat is employed in the system,- by either independently controlling the rate at which steam is supplied from boiler ii to .the heat receiving part or-generator 24, or the rate at which absorbent issupplied from boiler I 'l to the absorber ll.

Although! have shown and described a .par-' ticular embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as pointed out inthefollowihg claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an air conditioning syst m c mrrisinra duct through which air is circulated, means for 'said boiler .to expel water vapor fr'm the. ab-

sorbent in the form of steam for reac vating the absorbent, and structure capable of utilizing the steam produced by said boiler torender said cool ing element operable to efiect cooling of the gas. 4. A method of cooling and dehumidifying' air air,'reactlvating the absormnt by driving water vapor therefrom in the form ofsteam, and employing the-steam driven from the absorbent as a heating medium for. a heat operated refrigeration system to effect cooling of the air.

5. A method of treating gases, such as air, which comprises circulating an absorbent for water vapor in a circuit in one part of Whichthe absorbent absorbs water vapor from the gas and in another part of which the absorbent is heated to expel water vapor therefrom in the form of steam for reconcentrating the absorbent, the improvement which consists in utilizing the steam produced in reconcentrating the absorbent as a source of supply of heat for a heat operated re-I frigeration system toeflect cooling,

6. The method of treating air in an air conditioning system having a duct and a heat'operated refrigeration system for cooling air .passina through the duct which comprises circulating an absorbenti'or water vapor in the duct to'absorb 'water vapor from the air, heating the absorbent to expel the water vapor from the absorbent as steam to reactivate the absorbent, utilizing the p lled steam a a heating medium for the heat operated refrigeration. system to effect cooling of the air in the duct, and-mixing a portion ofthe condensed water vapor from the refrigeration 

